Parking meter



July 5, 1938.

E. R. BEVERLEY PARKING METER S Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 22, 1937 ATTORNEY July 5, 1938. E. R BEVERLEY PARKING METER Filed March 22, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Ernest, I2. Beverly ATTOR July 5, 1938. E, R BEVERLEY 2,122,973

PARKING METER Filed March 22, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEY Patented Jul s, 1938 UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to automobile parking meters. It is one of the objects oi the present invention to provide a parking meter of the type that is actuated responsive to the insertion of a coin thereinto, so that an indicating flag is moved to its paid position and retained there for a definite time interval to indicate that the motorist parkedadjacent the meter has paid the parking fee, and has not been parked in that m location for more than the period fixed by statute or regulation. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a meter of the above character whichshall be simple and economical of construction and reliable in action.

In order to obtain simplicity of construction and reliability of action it is an object of this inven- .tion to provide a construction wherein the indicatingflag is moved to the payment indicating position by the direct weight of the coin inserted. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a parking meter of the above mentioned character wherein the indicating flag is latched or otherwise held in its indicating position, subject to release of the latch by a time controlled mechanism which commences its timing operation upon the movement of the flag to its indicating position. It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a mechanism of the above character wherein the time interval for releasing of. the flag may be altered in a simple manner so as to allow for greater or lesser parking intervals as determined by the setting of the mechanism, which setting may be altered on dii ferent days of the week when the parking problems are different.

The attainment of the above and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following specification taken in con junction with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a front elevational view of the parking meter, the indicating flag being shown by dotted lines in its upper or normal non-parking position, and in full lines in its lower or timing position;

Figure 2 is a central vertical section through the meter housing with the mechanism therein shown in elevation;

Figure 3 is a rear elevational view of the timing mechanism and the mounting plate therefor;

Figure 4 is a front elevation of the timing mechanism with its indicating flag in its upper or normal position;

Figure 5 is a similar view showing the rela tive position of the parts after a coin has been inserted to set the timing mechanism in operation;

Figure 6 is 9, view similar to Figure 5 and showing the released position of the timing lever effected by the passing of a coin through the meter; and

Figure 7 is a front view of the lower portion of the mechanism showing the coin release lever as actuated by the coin to release the previously inserted coin.

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of Figure 6.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the meter comprises a suitable casing i having a back and rim extending around the same, which rim constitutes the sides and the top of the casing. The casing l is open at the front and is closed by a front cover plate 2 which has a projecting tongue at its lower edge that fits into a groove in the front of the casing, and which has a rearward projection 3 that includes a notch into which a cam 4 of a key controlled locking mechanism 5 extends. When the cam 4 is in the position illustrated in Figure 2 the cover is held locked in place. The cover may be released by insertion of a key into the lock and turning of the cam 4 until it leaves the groove in the projection 3.

The cover 4 has a coin receiving opening 5 therein and a transparent window 6 for viewing the indicating flag when the same is moved to its parking position, and a coin viewing window 1. The windows 6 and I may comprise one unitary piece of glass. The various operating and indicating mechanism for the meter are mounted upon the front cover plate 2, and inelude anindicating flag i0 pivoted at H and having a notch or tooth l2 for receiving a catch IS on a .lever N that is pivoted at I5 upon a plate It which is secured to the front cover 2 but spaced therefrom. The lever I4 is urged in a counter-clockwise direction, that is, in a direction to bring the catch i3 into engagement with the notch I! by a spring IS. The lever i4 is also provided with a projection i9 against one side of which the spring l8 bears and against the other side of which bears a cam 20 of a floating bell crank 2| pivoted at 22 on a timing release lever 23, which is in turn pivoted at 24 to the plate iii. The timing release lever 23 is urged to its normal position, as indicated in Figures 4 and 5, by a spring 26. A spring 21 normally urges the indicating flag iii in a counter-clockwise direction to its normal or nonparking position. The flag I0 swings in front of a plate 30 that is secured to but'slightly spaced from the plate It. The plate 20 has an arcuate slot Ii therein which is curved about the flag pivot II as a center. The flag II has apin l2 projecting laterally therefrom and extending into and through the slot 3|. A pair of coin guides 344! are also provided between the plates l8 and 30.

The floating bell crank 2| is provided with a gear segment having teeth 2| adapted to engage a pinion 39 which is continuously driven in a clockwise direction by a clock ll, which maybe a spring controlled eight day clock, or any other suitable timing mechanism. A releasable pin '2 limits the extent of turning of the bell crank 2| about its pivot 22, said pin being placed selectively in one of four holes, indicated at 42, thereby affording a controlled variable amount of permissive movement of the bell crank 2i.

The operation of the parking meter is as follows: Upon insertion of a coin, indicated at 50, (Fig. 6) into the slot I the coin first engages the time release lever 28 and moves it to the position indicated in Figure 6. This moves the floating pivot 22 about the pivot 24 and thus moves the gear teeth 3! out of engagement with the pinion 2!. It also moves the lever to its releasing position. Continued movement of the coin between the guideways 34-25 and between the plates II and 20 causes the coin to engage the pin 22 on the flag 4. and by its weight it moves 'the flag downwardLv to its indicating position.

As soon as the coin passes the release lever 23 this lever is returned to its original position, thus permitting the return of the lever II to its original position. In the meantime the coin has lowered the flag to the position indicated in Figure 5, so that when the lever ll returns to its initial position the catch l2 thereof engages the notch l2 oi the lever and locks the flag against return movement to the position illustrated at Figure 4. The coin continua to drop until it reaches the position illustrated in Figure 5 where it is held in front of the window I by a pin that is located at the end of a bell crank lever B pivoted at ll, said pin extending through and moving within a slot I in the plate Ii. A spring ll holds the bell crank lever 80 in the position illustrated in Figure 5.

when the lever 28 returns to its normal position the gear teeth 22 engage the teeth of the pinion ll and as a result the lever 2| is slowly turned about its pivot 22 in a counter-clockwise direction. After a predetermined time interval, depending upon the initial position of the pin 42 which limited the amount of downward movement of the lever 21, the arm 2| engages the projection ll of the lever ll and swings the lever about its pivot II to retract the catch I! from the notch l2 of the nag ll, whereupon the flag is returned to its initial position, indicated in Figure 4. by the spring 21.

The coin it remains in front of the window I until it is released by the dropping of a subsequent coin into the parking meter, whereupon the coin II drops into a suitable receptacle '0. This is accomplished as follows: When a subsequent coin is inserted into the meter and actuates the mechanism in the manner previously thereby moving the pin 5! in the slot II to release the previously inserted coin. when the subsequent coin disengages the pin 65, the previous coin having dropped into the box 60, the lever II returns to the position illustrated in Figure 5 and thus holds the last coin against dropp ng into the boxill.

From the above description it is apparent that I have provided a simple and reliable parking meter wherein the permissive parking time may be varied in a simple manner, and wherein the mechanism is si'm'ple and reliable in its action and economical oi construction, and wherein the coin itself effects the necessary movement of the flag to its indicating position, thus obviating the need of complicated or other mechanism'for moving the flag to its indicating position when a coin is dropped thereinto.

In compliance with the requirements of the patent statutes I have here shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention. It is. however, to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction here shown, the same being merely illustrative of the principles of the invention. What I consider new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Control mechanism for a coin controlled parking meter, comprising a movable signal ilag, means engaged by an inserted coin for moving the flag from a first position to a second position, a latch for holding the flag in its second position, and means for releasing the latch comprising a coin actuated pivoted release lever having a gear segment pivoted at one end thereof, a clock, a pinion driven by the clock and engaging the gear segment, said gear segment having means for releasing the latch upon' movement thereof by the pinion, means forming a coin passageway, said lever extending into said passageway and being moved by passage of a coin in said passageway, said gear segment being moved out of engagement with the pinion by the coin controlled movement of the release lever whereupon the segment returns to its initial position for reengagement with the pinion upon return movement of the release lever.

2. Control mechanism for a coin controlled parking meter, comprising a signal flag movable from a first position to a second position, a latch for holding the flag in its second position, and means for releasing the latch comprising a coin actuated pivoted release lever having a gear segment pivoted at one end thereof, a clock, a pinion driven by the clock and engaging the gear segment, said gear segment having means for releasing the latch upon movement thereof by the pinion, means forming a coin passageway, said lever extending into said passageway and being moved by passage of a coin in said passageway, said gear segment being moved out of engagement with the pinion by the coin controlled movement of the release lever whereupon the segment returns to its initial position for reengagement with the pinion upon return movement of the release lever, said flag having a pin secured thereto and projecting into said coin passageway, said flag being moved to its second position by the weight of a coin on the pin, and spring means for returning the flag to its first position upon release of the latch.

3. Control mechanism for a time controlled parking meter comprising a pair of parallel plates, means between the plates forming a coin passageway, a signal flag pivotally mounted on one of the plates and movable in front oi. the iorward one o! the plates from a first position to a second position, the forward one of the two plates having an arcuate slot therein, said flag having a pin secured thereto and extending into said slot in said coin passageway, said flag being so balanced about its pivot that when the pin is engaged by a coin moving in said passageway the weight of the coin disturbes the balancesufllciently to move the flag to its second position, a

latch for holding the flag in its second position,'

and timing means for releasing the latch a fixed interval 01 time after the flag has been moved to its second position, said timing means including a clock, a pinion driven by the clock, a gear segment engaged by the pinion and driven thereby, cam means actuated by the gear segment for releasing the latch,, and a coin controlled lever for resetting the gear segment to a starting position each time that a coin is moved through said coin passageway.

ERNEST R. BEVERLEY. 

